Argentina's top court upholds guilty verdict against Kirchner that bans her from office

Argentina's former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner speaks outside the Partido Justicialista (Justicialista Party) national building, as Argentina’s Supreme Court is expected to uphold a guilty verdict sentencing Fernandez de Kirchner to six years in prison for defrauding the state and banning her from public office,in Buenos Aires, Argentina, June 9, 2025. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian/File Photo

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -Argentina's Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a guilty verdict that sentenced powerful two-term former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner to six years in prison for defrauding the state and banned her from public office.

Kirchner, 72, a polarizing figure and leftist who served as president from 2007 to 2015, was convicted by a trial court in 2022 for a fraud scheme that steered public road work projects in the Patagonia to a close ally while she was president.